For a brief period on Monday, lasting around half an hour, the United Kingdom will be without a Prime Minister as Sir Keir Starmer resigns before Andy Burnham is appointed by King Charles III.
Sir Keir will formally tender his resignation to The King during a private audience at Buckingham Palace, leaving the office of Prime Minister vacant until Mr Burnham is invited to form a new government.
While the vacancy is brief, the machinery of government continues to function. Dame Antonia Romeo, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, is responsible for ensuring continuity across government until a new Prime Minister is appointed. Although she does not exercise the political powers of the Prime Minister, she leads the Civil Service and ensures the work of government continues uninterrupted during the transition.
Government ministers also remain in office until they resign or are replaced by the incoming Prime Minister, ensuring there is no break in the administration of the country.
Later in the day, Andy Burnham will travel to Buckingham Palace, where King Charles III will invite him to form a government. Once Mr Burnham accepts the invitation, he will officially become Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury before travelling to 10 Downing Street to begin appointing his Cabinet.
The audience will make Mr Burnham the fourth Prime Minister appointed by King Charles since the beginning of his reign in September 2022, following Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
Although the ceremony was historically known as “kissing hands”, modern Prime Ministers are appointed following a private audience with the Sovereign. Today, the invitation to form a government is accepted with a handshake rather than the centuries-old custom of kissing the monarch’s hand.
The carefully choreographed transition is one of the defining features of Britain’s constitutional arrangements. While there may briefly be no Prime Minister, the continuity of government is maintained throughout, allowing for the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
